The Passing of Our Bleach Blonde Pasionaria
Yesterday, following her unexpected death, I found myself in the odd position of having to explain who/what Lina Ron had been to someone who’d never heard of her.
It was…a struggle.
“She was sort of a gang leader, but she had her own political party.”
“Like a guerrilla thing?” she asked, trying to find some category in her mental filing system she could place this odd duck in.
“Sort of, but pro-government,” I said.
“So that would make her a paramilitary, no?”
“Erm, yes,” I hesitated, “but a leftwing paramilitary.”
Pause.
“Does that even exist?” she asked.
“Not any more, Emma,” I said, “not any more.”
RIP Lina Ron (1960-2011)
(Over in Spanish, Raul has a powerful meditation on the fascination she exerted.)
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